Madara Uchiha stood upon the fractured beam, peering down at Nagato from his elevated position.
"What? Haven't you realized it yet?"
Madara stood with his arms crossed. Within his ashen, Reanimated eyes, the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan slowly rotated, radiating a suffocating pressure.
"Those eyes have been with you for too long. So long that you have deluded yourself into thinking they originally belonged to you?"
Nagato clutched his eyes tightly. Blood seeped through the cracks between his fingers, dripping onto the waterlogged floor and blooming into striking red flowers.
That agonizing pain was not a physical tear, but rather the sensation of his soul being forcibly stripped away.
The Rinnegan within his sockets seemed to possess its own consciousness, pulsing wildly as they sought to break free from the optic nerves and fly toward their true master.
"No... this is impossible..."
Nagato gasped for air, trying to circulate his chakra to suppress the inner turmoil.
He was a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, blessed with immense vitality, and the man who had controlled these eyes for decades, calling himself a 'god'.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Nagato let out a roar, forcibly activating his ocular power.
A massive repulsive force exploded outward from him as the center.
However, faced with a force capable of leveling a village, Madara Uchiha simply stood his ground, not moving an inch.
Before the repulsive force could touch Madara's body, it encountered an invisible barrier and automatically diverted to the sides, only managing to ruffle his wild, long hair.
"A clumsy way to use them."
Madara shook his head, his tone laced with disappointment. "The power of the Rinnegan encompasses all of creation, yet you only know how to use it like a barbarian, pushing and shoving. Nagato, while you possess the Uzumaki physique necessary to bear these eyes, your caliber... is far too small."
Before he finished speaking, Madara's figure vanished instantly.
A second later, a palm covered in dark red armor appeared before Nagato without warning, seizing him by the throat.
"Ugh—!"
Nagato's pupils shrank as he instinctively tried to counter-attack.
He raised his right hand, a black receiver rod sliding out of his palm to strike at Madara's abdomen.
But in that instant, something strange happened.
Nagato's body suddenly froze.
It wasn't a paralysis jutsu; rather, his body—or more accurately, the Rinnegan—had severed its connection to his brain and was now receiving commands from Madara.
"Did you think I would hand my eyes to you without leaving any safeguards?"
As Madara spoke, the Rinnegan in Nagato's sockets suddenly flared with an eerie purple light.
The chakra that originally belonged to Nagato began to flow backward uncontrollably, surging through his meridians toward his eyes and then taking over his entire body.
This sensation was more terrifying than death itself.
Nagato watched helplessly as his body betrayed his will. The black rod that was supposed to pierce Madara stopped mid-air and then slowly lowered.
"Nagato!"
A shrill cry pierced the air.
Konan, who had been in shock, finally reacted.
She could not accept that Nagato—the man she viewed as a god and the pillar of the world—was so utterly helpless before this man.
Whoosh—
Countless white sheets of paper billowed from Konan's sleeves, instantly forming two massive paper wings.
She transformed into a streak of white light, a sharp paper spear condensing in her hand as she lunged at Madara's back.
"Let him go!"
Konan's eyes were filled with resolve. She knew the enemy before her was absurdly strong, but for Nagato, she was willing to burn away everything she had.
"Dance of the Shikigami: God's Paper Person Technique!"
Tens of thousands of explosive tags were mixed among the papers; the moment they touched Madara's body, they would trigger a chain reaction of explosions.
However, Madara didn't even turn his head.
He simply glanced sideways and issued a simple command to the controlled Nagato.
"Kill the nuisance."
Nagato's body trembled violently. His consciousness was roaring, screaming, and refusing.
That was Konan!
She was the comrade he had sworn to protect with his life, his last bond in this world!
No! Absolutely not!
Nagato tried to bite off his tongue, tried to sever his own meridians, tried any way possible to stop his body's movements.
But in the face of the Rinnegan's absolute authority, his will seemed pathetically insignificant.
Puchi.
A heartbreaking thud echoed.
The papers filling the sky suddenly froze in mid-air, then fluttered down powerlessly like lifeless butterflies.
Konan looked down in disbelief.
A pitch-black chakra rod had pierced through her abdomen.
Blood dripped down the rod, staining her pristine white paper wings.
And the person holding the other end of the rod was Nagato, his face covered in tears and his expression twisted to the extreme.
"Ah... Aaaaaah..."
A beast-like roar of despair escaped Nagato's throat.
His hands were shaking, not out of weakness, but because his body was violating his soul's wishes, inching the black rod deeper.
"Na... gato..."
Blood overflowed from the corner of Konan's mouth as her hand weakly gripped Nagato's sleeve.
She had no blame in her pale orange eyes, only deep sorrow and heartache.
She understood the pain in Nagato's eyes.
"What a tedious melodrama."
Madara released his grip on Nagato's throat and watched the scene coldly. "Even if it is under my control, being able to sever your bonds by your own hand is a form of liberation for you. To stand tall in this cruel world, weak emotions are nothing but a burden."
Madara didn't want to waste any more time.
The intel Obito brought—about that woman who was suspected to be Kaguya—gave him a long-forgotten sense of urgency.
He had to be resurrected immediately.
Only by possessing a true body of flesh and blood and becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki would he be qualified to seek the truth and face the legendary Progenitor of Chakra.
"Let's go, my vessel."
Madara reached out and grabbed Nagato's shoulder.
Nagato wanted to stay and check Konan's injuries, wanted to pull out that damn black rod, but his legs moved against his will, following Madara's lead.
'No... Konan... KONAN!!'
Nagato screamed frantically in his mind, but no sound came from his mouth.
He could only watch helplessly as Konan collapsed in a pool of blood, her white paper wings soaked by rain and gore, turning foul and tattered.
With a flash, Madara took Nagato and disappeared from the ruins of the high tower.
It was too noisy here.
The resurrection ritual required absolute silence, and the commotion in the Hidden Rain Village was too great; there was no guarantee it wouldn't attract those flies from Konoha.
...
The rain gradually grew heavier.
The cold rain washed over the ruins of the tower, diluting the blood on the ground and sweeping it into the dark currents of the sewers.
Konan lay on the cold stone floor, the searing pain in her abdomen causing her consciousness to fade.
Her life force was rapidly draining away with her blood.
"Nagato..."
She struggled to open her eyes, looking in the direction where the two had disappeared, her vision already blurred.
Was she going to die?
To die here like this, like a piece of worthless trash...
No.
She couldn't die.
In Konan's mind, Yahiko's smiling face suddenly flashed, along with images of the three of them running in the rain as children.
And... Nagato's despairing eyes from moments ago.
If she died, Nagato would truly become nothing more than that man's tool.
That man...
He was a demon.
"I... can't die yet..."
Konan grit her teeth, forcibly channeling the remnants of her chakra.
Although that strike had pierced her abdomen, it had avoided her vitals.
Was it because of Nagato?
At the final moment, had Nagato's will slightly interfered with Madara's control, shifting the rod by a few centimeters?
Konan knew that this was the slim chance of survival Nagato had fought to give her.
Shhh.
Her body began to deconstruct, turning into countless blood-stained papers.
The papers struggled to reassemble in the rain, sealing the wound in her abdomen and barely stopping the bleeding.
"I must... get the word out..."
Konan struggled to stand, her body swaying precariously.
Nagato had been taken.
In this world, who else could stop Madara Uchiha? Who else could save Nagato?
In Konan's mind, a figure with white hair and a perpetually irreverent smile appeared.
Master Jiraiya.
And that blonde Hokage, as well as the so-called Shinobi Alliance.
Once, she and Nagato had scoffed at the peace Jiraiya spoke of, believing it to be a hypocritical lie imposed by great nations upon smaller ones.
But now, facing the level of despair that was Madara Uchiha, perhaps... that alliance was the only hope.
"Konoha..."
Clutching her wound, Konan stumbled toward the edge of the tower.
She had to live.
She had to deliver this information to Konoha before that mysterious man achieved his goal.
Even if she had to crawl, she would make it there.
Countless papers gathered in the rain, transforming into a broken-winged paper crane. Carrying the heavily injured Konan, it wobbled into the torrential rain, flying toward the Land of Fire.
...
Outside the Hidden Rain Village, in a concealed cave.
Madara Uchiha tossed Nagato onto the ground.
By now, Nagato's hair—which had regained its vibrant red after absorbing the Eight-Tails' chakra—was turning gray at a rate visible to the naked eye.
This was a sign that his life force was being overextended.
"Let's begin."
Madara stood before Nagato, shedding the Reanimated armor from his body to reveal the cracked, gray skin beneath.
He opened his arms as if welcoming a new godhood.
"Use your life to trade for my return."
"Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique."
Nagato's hands uncontrollably formed the seals for the forbidden jutsu.
Snake - Boar - Ram - Rabbit - Dog - Rat - Bird - Horse - Snake.
Finally, his hands clapped together.
Hum—!!
A burst of green light erupted from within Nagato, illuminating the entire dim cave.
Space distorted behind Nagato, and a massive statue of the King of Hell slowly emerged.
It opened its giant mouth, breathing out an extremely dense surge of life energy.
This energy did not disperse to revive the dead as it usually did; instead, it converged into a single pillar of light, enveloping Madara Uchiha.
"Aaaaaargh—!!"
Nagato let out a scream of agony.
He was withering rapidly.
His once-sturdy muscles shriveled instantly, his skin losing its luster and clinging tightly to his bones.
That red hair turned completely snow-white, looking as lifeless as withered grass.
This was a technique of trading one life for another.
The caster was doomed to die.
On the other side, bathed in the green light, Madara Uchiha was undergoing a startling transformation.
The cracks representing his Reanimated state began to heal, and the ashen paper-like debris fell away, revealing fresh, ruddy skin beneath.
His heart began to beat.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
That powerful heartbeat echoed through the cave like a war drum.
Blood began to surge through his veins, his body temperature rose, and his senses became sharp and acute.
Pain, touch, smell...
All the sensations belonging to the living returned at this moment.
The light faded.
Madara Uchiha stood where he was, looking down at his powerful palms.
This was no longer that tireless but senseless corpse of a body.
This was a real body of flesh and blood.
"This is it..."
Madara took a deep breath, feeling the burning sensation of air rushing into his lungs, a fanatic and feral smile spreading across his face.
"My body!"
"This feeling of boiling blood... this body that can feel the agony of battle..."
He clenched his fist tightly, and his chakra erupted like a volcanic explosion, instantly shattering the cave's ceiling.
Boulders tumbled down as sunlight poured through the cracks onto his body.
Although he had lost the eyes provided by Reanimation due to the resurrection, and Madara's eyes were currently closed and his sockets empty, it did not diminish his current pressure in the slightest.
He was even more terrifying than before.
Because he was the living Madara Uchiha.
Madara turned around and walked toward Nagato, who was lying on the ground.
By now, Nagato's life force was completely spent. He was as thin as a skeleton, with only his chest faintly rising and falling.
"Well done."
Madara walked up to Nagato. Without a shred of mercy, he reached out and gripped Nagato's eye sockets.
"Though you were a pitiful pawn, you served your purpose as a container for my eyes."
Puchi.
Madara brutally gouged the Rinnegan out of Nagato's sockets.
Blood splattered.
Nagato didn't even have the strength left to scream; his body twitched once before he plunged into total darkness.
Holding the two warm, bloody eyeballs, Madara expertly pressed them into his own sockets.
The light of medical ninjutsu flashed briefly, and his optic nerves reconnected instantly.
Madara snapped his eyes open.
Purple ripples.
The power that originally belonged to him finally returned to its rightful owner at this moment.
"Hahahaha!!"
Madara laughed toward the heavens, his laughter piercing the clouds and scattering all birds within ten miles.
"Power! This is true power!"
"Obito! Zetsu! And the so-called Kaguya!"
Madara's laughter stopped abruptly, his gaze turning toward the direction of Konoha, his eyes burning with an intense will to fight.
"Now, I, Madara Uchiha, have returned."
"I will use these eyes to see all the truth for myself, and then..."
"I will sever everything!"
Boom!
A blue, Complete Body Susanoo soared into the sky, wings sprouting from its back. It unsheathed a massive chakra blade and, with one swing, cleaved two distant mountain peaks in half.
##Discount##
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